I started a relationship with Christ in December of 2010 at a Young Life camp called Rockbridge in Virginia. The past 5 1/2 years have been crazy and God has brought me to some crazy places.
This year I have seen 8 different cultures so far. I have heard more than 10 different languages and learned to say hello in each of them and then forgot how to say it a month later. It has been a whirlwind of emotion every step of the way and it has tested me and my faith.
It’s not just because I am working with a different ministry every month, sometimes multiple in a month.
It’s not just because I am living with 6 people at a time and then get switched around with the other 29 every few months and begin to live with 6 different people.
It’s not just because I have been challenged in my prayer life.
It’s not just because I have been challenged if I want to even follow Christ every day.
It’s not just because I realize that I don’t have this whole following Jesus thing figured out as much as I did when I left America.
It’s not just because I never can get it right all the time.
It’s not just because I have 90 day left till I am back in Virginia.
It’s not just because I am thinking about what is next after the race.
It’s not just because community is hard.
It’s not just because at times I feel more alone than I have ever felt in my life.
It’s not just because that I have to fight my people pleasing mentality and care about myself sometimes.
It’s not just because I struggle to understand what vulnerability even is.
It’s not just because I have habits and addictions that don’t honor The Lord.
It’s not just because I don’t know how to ask for help sometimes.
It’s not just because.
It’s because all of these things and more.
I want to learn to see that I am made new every day.
I want to care about myself (both physically and mentally), my community, and the world around me equally.
I want to not just listen to people but hear where they are at.
I want to be able to listen to what Jesus has to say, rather than him answering if I get what I want and I had planned. Which I usually don’t get what I want.
I want a relationship with Jesus every single day and not just when I am preaching, evangelizing, praying, and/or teaching.
I want a relationship with Jesus when my team is pissed off, when I am being asked to rake dirt, when things are hard, when tempers are flaring, and when I feel so exhausted that I “just can’t even” anymore.
I have learned more about God, community, and myself in these past 8 months than I have in the past 6 years.
This will not stop, this will continue, this will grow exponentially for the rest of my life on Earth.
It’s not just because I am on The World Race.
It’s because I want a relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ today and every day till I am home again with Him, The Father, and The Holy Spirit.
